17th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

A man finds treasure and sells all that he has in order to buy that field. Selling all that one has in order to obtain it is not a burden, but a gain. He acted as such “for the joy it gives him.” Such joy was not just a fleeting emotion for it was a driving force of Christian detachment and self-giving that propelled him forward.

The world’s advice on such an act would be to weigh the cost and then reluctantly surrender yours goods with the hope that it will pay off later. Through such a disposition of mind the sting of loss would be felt. The Gospel is not asking us to make an agonizing sacrifice, but is giving an invitation to obtain something that actually fulfills.

As Saint Augustine writes, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Each of us has a spiritual hunger that we spend our life attempting to satisfy. Our attention is placed upon status, money, comfort, achievements, and control. This is like the man in the parable who dug in the field attempting to find that which would eventually fulfill.

Upon stumbling upon the treasure his restlessness ceased. He came to recognize that this was what he was made for. When the man found the Kingdom of God (the treasure) his soul came to recognize its true home. His restless heart finally came to find its rest which allowed him to sale all that he owned in order to obtain it “for the joy it gives him.”

As Saint Paul states to the Philippians, “Whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Here he was not pointing towards a tragic loss due to what he was called to give up, but the realization that these things were holding him back.

Wealth, career, reputation, and control are not bad in themselves. The problem arises when we look to them to find our identity, treating them as if they are the true treasure for which our heart longs. By surrendering unhealthy dispositions we are allowing God to be the true treasure of our life.

It is so easy to see the demand of sacrifice, forgiveness, detachment, and living counter culturally solely through the lens of what we are being forced to give up. Faith transcends mere rules to satisfy another, for through embracing the faith to its fullest, we are truly set free in our pursuit of that which brings rest unto our restless hearts.

Let us be propelled forth like this man by “the joy it gives.” The man found the treasure first and then proceeded to obtain it. Likewise, we must find that treasure through prayer, adoration, and scripture. Through such an encounter we will behold God’s goodness and move towards such goodness by conforming our life unto it. This opens the way to small detachments where we fast in minor ways in order to not be controlled by the world, but to live for the Lord our God. Do we desire to live for Him and if so what are we being called upon to surrender “for the joy it gives?”

16th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Pope Francis stated, “I see the Church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”

A field hospital does not check someone’s moral credentials or worthiness at the door before treating their wounds. Instead it takes people as they are (broken, wounded, and complex). The Church on earth is not a museum of saints (a field of pure wheat), but is a sanctuary for the imperfect (a field where the wheat and the weeds are allowed to mingle).

The servants in the parable were so eager to judge and destroy, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?” It is easy to desire immediate order over having patience for the growth that must take place. To rush to judgement rushes to uproot the wheat possibly driving people away from God and the Church completely.

We must allow the weed and the wheat to grow together until the harvest arrives for there is always hope for conversion. If God had prematurely pulled up the weeds the Church would have lost Saul before he could convert to Saint Paul. Such a mindset would have deprived so many of the saints their reward and so too would have costed us to be cast off for we are all sinners in need of God’s mercy.

A weed can never change its identity becoming wheat. On the other hand, a human through the grace of God and personal repentance can become a saint. This would be the Greek word “metanoia” which means a “a change of mind” or “turning around.” This is a life altering spiritual conversion that is a total reorientation of one’s heart toward God.

The Church assists us in such conversion of heart. Through her care we receive the sacraments especially confession and the Eucharist. The Church provides the time, safety, and grace needed for sinners to repent and grow into the saints that God calls them to be.

This is not the trap of relativism for truth is absolute. The harvest is coming, the separation of the wheat and weeds will take place, and the weeds will be burned. Through the practice of charity and prudence may we walk with others in order that they may be healed. Also, we must be truthful with self and not be so prideful to think that we are not also sinners in need of such mercy.

This parable leaves us with hope that we do not have to stay on the path that we are on, but that we can instead move towards God. How can we move towards such a disposition of mind in order that we may be healed and not deprive others of the healing that they need? Let us not squander this time that has been set before us, but use it in order to choose the follow after Him and to achieve such conversion for ourself.

15th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Our readings deal with the dynamic that is at play between Divine Grace and our human free will. Grace is a free gift that comes to us from God that we are unable to purchase, receive elsewhere, or give to another. Freewill is our ability to choose our awn actions which allows us to either accept or reject the gift of His love and grace.

From the Prophet Isaiah we are told how God’s Word is an unstoppable force of nature. Rain and snow come to the earth and they assist in the growth of life. God’s Word brings forth such life to all that it touches. God’s gift to us is grace and we are given such a gift freely even before we might think to ask for it.

In Matthew’s Gospel the seed remains the same to matter where it is scattered. It is the harvest which changes depending upon where it lands. The Prophet Isaiah has already guaranteed that God’s Word is powerful while Matthew’s Gospel points towards us as an individual and our ability to be found receptive of such a gift.

As Saint Augustine stated, “God created us without us, but he will not save us without us.” God’s grace is perfect and it lacks nothing, but God also respects our human dignity and so will not force His grace upon us if we refuse it. 

Each of us are called to embrace holiness in our everyday life which means that we must cooperate with such a gift that comes to us from God. Through such a pursuit we must remember that we have been called upon to be numbered among the saints. The saints are those who strove to love God above all things and died in sanctifying grace, they have now been judged as worthy of Heaven.

It is important that we remember that we do not have to generate holiness for ourself (this would be impossible). The seed being the Word, the Sacraments, and grace already has the power inside in order to make us a saint. Our job is not to manufacture its growth, but to allow such growth to take place inside of us by not impeding God and the gift of His grace.

No matter how we find the soil of our life there is always hope for us to properly prepare it in order that it may bear fruit. A path can always be broken up, rocks can always be dug out, and thorns can always be weeded. Thus spiritual disciplines like prayer, receiving the Eucharist, Confession, and acts of charity help to prepare the soil to bear such fruit.

A farmer would never scatter seed on a dirt path or a thorn bush for this would be a waste. It is God who scatters His grace everywhere without cost. The sower scatters this seed hoping that one day the soil will change in order that it may bear good fruit. Let us cooperate with God in order that our life may change in order that we too may come to bear good fruit by remaining open to the gift of His grace and allowing it to be found at work within us.

14th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Jesus calls out to all of us who laboring and burdened, “come to me.” This invitation is made to those who find themselves exhausted from endless work. From a perspective of faith this is those who feel the heavy burden of their own sins, the struggles of daily life, and the limitations of our human nature.

A promise is made that through Him we will come to find our rest. From such a promise we are immediately told to “take my yoke upon you.” A yoke is a wooden beam used to join two animals together in order that they may pull a plow. We are not to pull this plow alone, but by taking His yoke and being joined unto Him.

It is He who is the stronger partner in this bond who does the heavy lifting while we walk alongside Him. The yoke of Christ is easy for it is tailored to the person and driven by love, which makes even difficult sacrifices feel as if they are light. From the Greek this word “easy” also means “well-fitting.”

In promising rest Jesus is not promising a permanent vacation from the difficulties of this life. We cannot forget the reality of the cross for through it we come to see transformed suffering which brings forth redemption. As we were reminded only last Sunday, “whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”

By encountering such rest we come to encounter the peace that Christ alone can bring into our life. With our trust placed in Him we come to understand that we are not the master of own destiny. When we are able to surrender our need to fix everything on our own, we find deep, interior tranquility for we have found our rest in Christ. 

As Saint Augustine stated, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Such a statement invites us to remember the Sabbath rest. Through discovering such rest we step out of the chaos of this world to remember that we are God’s children and are in need of cultivating such a relationship with Him.

The world in which we live is fast paced and thus we cannot even rest for one day. Let us be intentional about how we observe Sunday as a day of rest and not just as another day of the week to get caught up in all that burdens us. The burdens of this life will continue and we will never find rest from them if we refuse to be joined to Christ and find our rest in Him.

Let us turn that area of our life, where we have been attempted to plow own, to one that is yoked to Him. Through such a mentality we invite Christ to enter into that specific struggle, not that it may be removed, but in order that we may find peace. Let us heed this invitation to rest by giving not into despair and attempting to overcome it on our own, but yoked to Christ the Prince of Peace.

13th Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Baptism is an important sacrament of the Church. It is not just a ceremonial washing with water that is done in order to bring family and friends together to celebrate a life event. Baptism is most serious because it leaves a indelible mark upon the soul of the receiver which means that it permanently changes the soul’s relationship to God and can never be erased, even by sin and death. To be baptized means that we are incorporated into a relationship with Christ and His Church.

Saint Paul speaks to the seriousness of this sacrament by stating, “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Therefore, when you were submerged in the waters of baptism, your old self bound to sin was buried in Christ’s tomb. When you rose forth from those life giving waters you emerged as a new creation infused with His divine life.

Despite receiving such a wondrous gift we must move forth from those waters conforming our life to Christ. It is easy for us to cease regress to a life old; that being a life on sin and a lack of care for the spiritual life. We not profess baptism to be the end of our walk of faith, but the beginning that moves us forward infused with the gift of God’s grace.

Just because we have received the sacrament of baptism does not mean that we will be judged as worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. To be baptized is to put of faith into action and not squander the time that has been allotted to us. At the earthly life we ought to want to hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

In light of this we are told by Christ, “Whoever does not take up his cross…is not worthy of me.” This is a reminder of the importance of the active and daily outworking of our baptism. The cross becomes our “old self” that buried in baptism and tries to crawl back out. We have to put it to death in order that we may continue to place our trust in the Lord and choose to live for Him.

Taking up the cross means that we come to accept the daily sacrifices of this life. This is the friction that exists between choosing love over selfishness and the trails of this life. The cross and choosing to take it up is a recognition that your life is no longer your own for it is to be lived as a true disciple of the Lord.

It is true that the Church teaches that baptism is the necessary starting point for salvation for it washes away original sin and infuses the soul with sanctifying grace. This is not a one time guarantee of heaven for we are called to undergo the lifelong process of faith, obedience, and relationship with God. Baptism is the gate and not the finish line, so let us choose to strive daily to rise from these life giving waters to live for Christ.